


Residual Doubts

by pan_dora



Series: Residual Doubts [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Christmas, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, One-Shot, Post 5B, Secret Relationship, Steo, Stiles/Theo - Freeform, canon divergence - post teen wolf, pack christmas party, season 6 kinda never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 18:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12918108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pan_dora/pseuds/pan_dora
Summary: It's Christmas Eve. The pack and some of the pack parents had gathered at the Martin residence. It was supposed to be a normal Christmas.Theo was tense. Lydia acted strange - and Stiles wasn't quite sure what the Hell was even going on.





	Residual Doubts

**Author's Note:**

> Deck the hall with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. ’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la, la la la la...
> 
> Too much Christmas songs over the weekend. This is what happened. I guess. It's short. It's supposed to be, kind of, cute. So, there you go. Have some Christmas Steo!

Something was clearly up. Stiles had no fucking clue what, but something was going on; and Lydia was in on it. In fact, Lydia was the reason Stiles had this suspicion in the first place. Since he had moved in with her for college, he had found out she was a closeted Christmas freak. She was absolutely and completely obsessed with everything Christmas; from music, to decoration, to Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts. Their apartment looked like a goddamn Winter Wonderland – not that Stiles complained, he loved it, too – but even he needed a break from _It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas_. They had fought four times about mistletoe in their apartment. Lydia had blamed Jackson and scrunched her nose at Theo (they had yet to figure out if chimeras were affected by it) whenever he had come around.

So, yeah. She was usually exhilarated and in an amazing mood during this time of the year. But her behaviour had taken on such a dramatic scale, that even Jackson and Danny – the only people who knew her as well as Stiles did (maybe even better in Jackson’s case) – looked severely disturbed. She had been even giddier than she had used to be, but it had all reached a boiling point after Theo had come back with John, Jordan and Natalie, who had breakfast with Stiles’ dad (these two needed to finally get their goddamn shit together and quit the pretence of friendship, seriously). She was in such a furiously good mood that Stiles had checked her left hand for a diamond ring. There was no new jewellery. Jackson had not popped the question.

Stiles caught Theo’s eye over Lydia’s head, who sent a quick smile in his direction before turning his attention back to Jordan. Stiles’ confusion over his boyfriend’s behaviour yielded a small pang of bitterness. It was their second Christmas as a couple and the second Christmas Eve they hid their relationship from most of the pack. Of course, they were only together for thirteen months, and Stiles understood why they had kept it secret the first time. The pack had still struggled with the aftermath of what Theo had made them do or had done to them directly; their bond had been shaky at best and such a revelation would have been a sure-fire way to get Stiles kicked out of the pack and ensue new fights. But Lydia had found out, inevitably, since they were living together. John had, even if reluctantly, accepted the relationship. Scott did, too; although he’d rather not hear too much about it. Perhaps it sucked a little, but Stiles knew that, as soon as someone would say anything remotely stupid, Scott would jump to his best friend’s defence.

That’s how they were, unbroken even if cracked.

Theo still wanted to lay low this Christmas. Even if begrudgingly, Stiles had accepted it. But Christmas was still the suckiest time of the year to act like they didn’t date, didn’t have the most amazing sex, didn’t talk about the future – they wanted to tour the world after finishing their studies, wanted to settle somewhere, adopt a dog (which had been Theo’s idea) or six (that had come from Stiles), they had scratched the topic of marriage. Pretending Theo wasn’t _the one_ while being bombarded with songs about lovers on Christmas (Kelly Clarkson could wish for whatever underneath her tree, he did _not_ care, okay?!) was fucking stupid. Well, maybe some people thought, after everything that had happened, after only being together for a little over a year, Stiles was dead from the neck up, too, for thinking that. But not once, no matter what they had done or talked about, had the thought ‘ _if we’re still together by then’_ snuck up on him. It had happened with Malia. But this time he knew, he just knew; like Lydia knew about Jackson and like his dad had known when he’d gone down on one knee after being in a relationship with his mom for only six months.

Sometimes it’s just that fucking simple.

“Oh, ew,” Isaac complained suddenly, “Not you, too.”

“What?” Stiles asked after being pulled back into reality without much of a warning.

“You smell like him.” Isaac pointed in Liam’s direction, who sat on the couch between Mason and Corey, sad, lonely and heartbroken. He definitively did not smell like that. “Did someone dump you, too?”

“Aww, come one,” Lydia cooed patting Stiles’ cheek, “Who could dump him?” Ignoring their bemused faces, she twirled around and wandered to Jackson, who had called her over after having been in a heated discussion with Kira and Scott – well, as heated as a discussion with these two softies could become, anyway. Danny was watching the three of them with mild amusement.

A little to the side, Malia was talking to Melissa and Chris. The two adults were laughing about something the werecoyote didn’t quite understand. Social structures were still hard on her sometimes, but she did her best.

At the dining table opposite the sofa, Natalie, Jordan, John and Theo were talking about something serious; at least, if Theo’s tense shoulders were anything to go by. Thinking about it, the chimera had been tense and twitchy the whole day; actually, he had been the whole week leading up to today. It’s probably because of the whole gang being together again; they were still wary of him, although Theo tried his best to be good. Christmas and birthdays always took quite the toll on him. Hopefully, it would be easier next year.

“Am I the only one who thinks she’s on drugs or something?” Isaac asked bewildered.

“Nope,” Stiles replied, popping the ‘p’ like Lydia would do. She was seriously rubbing off on him. Jackson and Theo were in for a wild ride in the future; that’s for fucking sure.

Lydia minced through the living room again, looking stunning in her evening robe. Yeah, that was weird, too. She made them dress up for this Christmas Eve. Last year, they had all worn tacky Christmas sweaters – even Jackson, Danny and Theo – and it was perfect. They’d eaten too much, talked a lot, and, after the adults were gone, huddled together and watched sappy Christmas movies (it had been the only time Theo and Stiles had been able to interact without anybody noticing; also, Scott had been the one to pull Malia away, so they had sat next to each other). They had planned on doing the same this year, so, he had not a single clue as to why they had to wear these fancy outfits. Although the guys, aside from Jackson, all wore only button-ups and jeans.

Lydia stopped at Theo’s side, saying something to those sitting at the table before vanishing somewhere in the hallway. Theo, who had paled so much Stiles was worried his boyfriend might throw up any second, raised to his feet. He did not glance in Stiles’ direction although he had to be well aware of his staring.

“It’s time for some presents,” John announced, and Jordan turned the music’s volume down until _Wham!_ was nothing more than quiet background noise.

“What do you mean ‘presents’? We don’t do presents.” Stiles stared at his father in utter confusion. “The presents are under the tree, at home- what the hell is going on?” As a rule, they had decided to buy presents but would only open them on Christmas Morning; Santa needed to squeeze himself through that chimney, if he wanted to or not. They had tried to do Secret Santa, however, had quickly decided against it. They had wanted to buy more than one present. But that wasn’t the point right now. “Lydia is acting like she’s on pinecones for the last two weeks,” Stiles continued waving his hands around. Isaac choked on a laugh, but John only pushed Stiles into the armchair with a solemn smile. That didn’t exactly help to ease his overall confusion.

“There you go.” Lydia put four neatly wrapped gifts on the table in front of him, then dropped an envelope beside them. The number two was written on its back in her perfect handwriting.

“Open them!” Mason urged, and even Liam was curious enough to forgot about his misery.

“But we-“ _don’t do presents now_.

“Just open them, Stilinski,” Jackson called slightly annoyed.

With a frown, and not any less confused, Stiles picked up the small package that carried the number one. As he unwrapped it, he found a jewellery box. He didn’t exactly wear any kind of jewellery, though. Not even bracelets or watches. Isaac, for example, had started wearing thin leather bands. Stiles always found these things annoying. They were something he could get distracted by. But as he opened the box, it was a tiepin. Nothing he'd normally use. He didn’t even own one. Maybe that was a jab from Lydia because of his carelessness about fashion. It was nice, however, golden with a small anchor on its end. His father had owned one similar to this. Stiles had seen him wear it once or twice.

He opened the envelope next, feeling everybody staring at him. It was a voucher for a new tailored suit. “Okay, _ha_ _ha_ ,” Stiles said waving the paper at Lydia, “Very funny. I'm sorry I don’t own a suit. But when do I need one? Seriously.”

She gestured towards the rest of the boxes. “Go on.”

Stiles looked over at Scott, who shrugged. Then glanced quickly at Theo, whose expression was unreadable. He simply stared at the third present in Stiles’ fingers. What the hell? Lydia tended to annoy him with his disinterest in fashion, but this was something else entirely. She didn’t need to pick at him in front of the whole pack. The next gift turned out to be a thin black tie – and the fourth a light blue rose guys would get on homecoming or- “What the hell, we went to prom already?” Stiles stared at Lydia, who rolled her eyes theatrically.

John patted his head with an amused chuckle.

“For a smart boy, you’re pretty dumb sometimes,” Lydia announced crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Theo still looked like the whole thing didn’t affect him at all, but Stiles noticed how he worked his jaw in this miniscule way; which was a telltale sign for either distress or anger. Either didn’t make a lot of sense in the current situation. The rest of the group stared at the presents, then Stiles and back at the presents. There was still the fifth box, but, honestly, Stiles wanted a proper answer instead of these little jabs at his style of clothing. He knew he wasn’t exactly up to date with all the new trends rushing through the stores within two weeks. But he had promised to go shopping with her a while ago, so – why the hell did she do that to him now?

“I need that back, by the way,” Jordan said pointing at the black tie.

Stiles blinked. “What?” He asked looking round at the hellhound. “You gifted me a tie and want it back?”

Melissa, suddenly, sucked in air and grabbed Chris’ upper arm. Stiles stared at her, wondering if she’s about to faint for some goddamn reason. But instead she looked around the room, squinting at Isaac, Malia, and everyone else before turning to her son with an accusatory expression. It basically screamed _why didn’t you tell me_? Scott, horrified by this, shook his head. No. Scott had not a single clue what this was all about. If he did, Stiles would already know about it, because he couldn’t keep a secret even if his life depended on it. But Lydia knew and Jordan and his dad; and they wouldn’t tell him no matter what he did. He could bend over backwards, if they didn’t want to tell him, they weren’t going to do so.

“I’ll borrow it to you,” Jordan added with raised brows.

Stiles blinked. “That’s… great?”

“ _Holy shit_!” Mason gasped pressing a hand on his chest. Everybody was turning to him now, but Mason seemed to frantically look around as well. He and Melissa were searching for something; Stiles simply didn’t have any idea what they were looking _for._ But what Jordan had said seemed to have been some form of hint, a clue for this conundrum the presents displayed.

Isaac bent over the armchair, propping his arms on Stiles’ head to have a better view. “Hm,” he hummed. “A borrowed tie. A blue flower. A tiepin and a voucher for a sweet new suit.”

Suddenly, something started clicking in Stiles’ head. Isaac’s words whirled around, arranged and rearranged into new structures. He could feel multiple eyes resting on him. But only those who _knew_. The rest were staring at the presents on the table just like Stiles was doing himself. Scott and Kira both had their lips pursed. Corey and Liam’s expression told him that the wheels in their minds were spinning quickly. Isaac hummed behind him. Chris seemed like it very slowly started to dawn on him what the hell this was about. Jackson and Danny both frowned in concentration. Malia stared from one person to the other, not even trying to understand. Theo had his eyes locked on something over Liam’s head. He was the only one who didn’t appear to have any interest in what was going on.

Stiles blinked, then froze. His eyes flew back to the presents in front of him. The tiepin. _His father had owned one similar to this_. Or maybe he had owned this exact one. What would that make? Which order did the presents come in? Where were the fucking numbers? Stiles sorted through them quickly, his heart picking up speed. _There_. Something old. The tiepin. Something new. The suit. Something borrowed. The tie. Something blue. The flower.

He stared at Lydia, then Theo and down at the last gift. “ _Ohmygod._ ” Stiles snatched the box and ripped the paper off. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mason grabbing Corey’s hand so tightly that the chimera winced in pain. Opposite him, Scott gaped. It seemed to have clicked as well. Stiles threw the paper to the floor and forced the second jewellery box open. He wasn’t quite sure if he had rather hoped for another stupid accessory he didn’t need.

It wasn’t.

“It’s yours,” Stiles said, his voice carefully even while he stared down at the small box, “isn’t it, Dad?”

“Yes,” John replied, one hand securely placed on his shoulder.

Stiles snapped the box shut again, dropping it on the table. His heart was hammering against his ribcage faster than Stiles could remember it ever doing. His fingers shook as he ran them through his hair.

Isaac leaned back.

“Wait, _wait_ ,” Liam complained, “What’s in it?”

“Shut up, Dunbar,” Jackson muttered.

Malia nodded. “What’s in the box?”

A nervous chuckle escaped Stiles’ lips at her being unintentionally funny. “Uh,” he said unintelligently a few moments later, running his fingers through his hair again. “I’m supposed to answer, right?” He needed to answer – and the surprise suddenly left, his heart stopped hammering and settled in a slow and calm rhythm. It was nothing he had expected. Especially not this soon. Stiles hadn’t even thought Theo would do it in front of everyone they knew, in front of a family that didn’t quite accept him; a family that didn’t even know about the relationship they currently had. They had talked about a future. Stiles remembered the moment they had done so for the first time vividly; Theo had run his fingertips up and down Stiles’ side, leaving goose bumps in their wake. They had both been naked, and sweaty. Post-orgasmic bliss. The usual. Legs tangled in sheets that had been pulled up to their waists. After a short wrangling over who would use whom as a pillow – Stiles had won, by the way; Theo was ticklish, and Stiles was going to use it to his advantage until the day he died – the chimera had started wondering about what they’d do after graduation. Stiles had, for the first time, mentioned that he desperately wanted to go travel the world; that’s why he worked to hard alongside his studies and saved every penny he didn’t need to spend. Theo had said he’d liked that; but then what? Rent a shabby studio flat. Fight about doing the dishes. Adopt a dog. Travel more. Be unhappy at the job. Look for a new one. Bitch about the neighbours having nosy sex. Have _noisier_  sex. Adopt five more dogs. Buy a rundown farm somewhere in the countryside. Turn it into a lair for reluctant, morally ambiguous heroes.

“I was going for opening a zoo, but that’s an idea I can get behind.”

“These are all idiotic ideas,” Stiles had concluded, laughing breathlessly.

Theo had shrugged. “Being superheroes is a forever job, you know. You can’t quit that.”

“Hm.” Stiles had pressed a quick kiss to Theo’s lips. “Forever doesn’t look so terrifying with you by my side.”

 _Forever doesn’t look so terrifying with you by my side_.

“Yes.”

Lydia clapped her hands, her lips widening into a grin. She looked like she wanted to hug someone, but nobody else seemed to have quite caught up with what exactly Stiles had just answered.

Theo finally unfroze. “ _What_?”

“You expected me to say no?”

“Residual doubt.”

Stiles raised to his feet and flung himself into Theo’s arms. Their lips found each other easily, still fitting perfectly. Theo curled his arms around his waist, like he’d used to do, crossing them just above his lower back. Stiles had his arms loosely wrapped around the chimera’s shoulders, fingers playing with the dirty blond strands. It wasn’t exactly a proper kiss. Theo was muttering _idiot_ against his lips. Stiles was laughing giddily.

“ _Okay_ ,” Jackson said suddenly, “Since when are you _not_ crushing on Lydia?”

“Junior year,” Scott replied, sounding like he wasn’t quite sure what to make out of the whole thing.

“They’re together since _Junior Year_?” Isaac asked.

Malia made an odd sound. “I was with him Junior Year.”

“Then how long-“

“ _Theo_? Seriously?”

“Well, why _not_?”

"The sexual tension, I  _told_ you, Corey!"

The chaos was somewhat imminent. The pack was talking over each other, confusion rattling in most of their voices. Nobody seemed actually _mad_ at them being together. It was more of a _‘you knew?’_ and _‘why didn’t you tell us_?’ or _‘Did_ you _know?’_. Stiles used the chaos to kiss Lydia on the cheek, who continued to beam, quickly hug his dad, snatch the jewellery box and pull Theo after him. They slipped through the patio door, and out into the cold. Sometimes Stiles really wanted it to snow here. Right now, he was quite happy it didn’t. He shuddered as his sock-cladded feet hit the freezing ground on the Martin’s patio.

“I’m not taking your name.”

“Well, I’m not taking yours either.”

Stiles raised a brow. “Fantastic.”

Theo burst into a rare and rather uncontrolled laughing fit. It was amazing to watch him do it. Theo was always so composed, so sincere. He was smug, sure, and sassed Stiles all the goddamn time. He wasn’t quite as arrogant as he pretended to be. It wasn’t his laughter, Stiles had ultimately fallen in love with. It was the way Theo had been willing to change, his idiotic loyalty, his honesty. Their relationship started with a hatefuck. It had neither been romantic nor pleasant. Stiles had winced in pain every other step. They had continued fucking. Then they had seen each other outside school during harmless enough study dates with Lydia. They had still needed to graduate. Theo had gone to therapy sessions. They had stopped fucking. Then, all of the sudden, the chimera had asked him out on a date. A _real_ one. The first time, Stiles had blown him off. But Theo had been stubborn. He had asked him three more times. A month later, Theo had left the study meetings with the words ‘see you tomorrow at three’. Lydia hadn’t come. Theo hadn’t brought his books. The fucker had tricked him into a date.  

“You didn’t even ask,” Stiles complained after Theo more or less gathered his composure.

He was still hiccupping with laughter, though. “Because asking you for anything ends in heartbreak and pain.”

“Maybe I’d take your name if you asked nicely.”

Theo squinted at him. “Well, would you?”

“What?”

“Take my name?”

Stiles pretended to think about it. “Nah.”

Theo groaned, shoving him away half-heartedly before pulling him back in again. He kissed him, licking into his mouth like he owned it – well, he kind of totally did – and hummed what sounded suspiciously like _All I want for Christmas_. Stiles was not opposed to pinching Theo’s side because of that.

“When did you ask Dad?”

Theo pulled back with a sheepish expression. “Today.”

“ _Today_?”

“Yeah, Lydia had wanted me to ask your dad for his blessing weeks ago, but I couldn’t work up the nerve to do it.” Stiles’ ears rang. _Weeks ago_. When had he started planning this? How long had Lydia actually known Theo wanted to ask… or not so much ask but imply the question of getting married? “To be fair, she had scared the shit out of me a couple of times, but your dad’s far more frightening.” He chuckled, then shuddered at something he obviously remembered. “I jumped in the car and drove away before anybody else could offer your dad, Jordan and Natalie a ride. You were so busy with Lydia being a nuisance that you only noticed I was gone halfway to your house.” _True_. Lydia probably had been this exceptionally weird on purpose today. Maybe so he wouldn’t see Theo having heart attack after heart attack. “And I asked- okay, no. I blurted it out. Surprisingly, your dad did not think about shooting me – at least until I told him that, no, I did not have a ring. This whole thing-“ he gestured towards the table- “was actually Natalie and Lydia’s idea. I just wanted to slip you a note or something.”

“How romantic.”

“I’m terrible at being romantic, you know that.”

“Thank god for Lydia.”

Theo nodded absentmindedly, then he pulled the jewellery out of Stiles’ grip. “I don’t know if it fits, I mean- _ugh.”_ For the first time he sounded acutely annoyed by his own incapability of planning something romantic. Not that Stiles was any better at doing that. Their dates consisted of hanging out at random places most of the time. It was whatever. They didn’t exactly _need_ romance. It happened more or less on accident. “Your dad said we can change the size.” While muttering, Theo took Stiles’ right hand and slipped the wedding band on. “Your fucking skinny fingers. Of course, it doesn’t fit.”

Stiles bit his lip. “It’s also the wrong hand.”

“What?” Theo stared down for a few seconds. “Oh, _fuck_ me. My left isn’t your left.”

“Hey.” Stiles cupped Theo’s cheeks and kissed him again, deep and slow and determined to shut him up. “It’s a wedding band, anyway, isn’t it?” He pecked his lips before pulling back. “It doesn’t have to fit. At least not right now.”

“I’m bad at this.”

“No.”

Theo gave him a blank look.

“Well, okay yeah,” Stiles admitted with a quiet chuckle, “You’re horrible at this; but you asked Dad for my hand. That's…”

“Bold?”

“That, too. But it kinda makes me love you more.”

The door behind them flew suddenly open. In it stood Liam, slightly alarmed looking, and panting. Michael Bublé reminded them that Santa Claus was coming to town. “You should probably come inside.”

“Why?” Stiles carefully slipped his father’s wedding ring off and put it back in the box. They’d need to work something out. They didn’t actually need engagement rings (Lydia would probably make them buy some), did they? And they had to find a ring for Theo that fitted with this one.

Liam rubbed the back of his head. “Lydia and Scott are fighting about who’s going to be your best man.”

“Oh, for the love of-“

Theo snorted out a laugh.

“I’m making Liam my best man!” Stiles called stomping back into the room – he was instantly met with loud protests and insults.

This would be a very, _very_ exhausting time until their actual wedding.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, I corrected this at 2am, only shortly before my insomnia finally decided I could go to sleep. So, I'm terribly sorry for any mistake I haven't found. :/


End file.
